The Loveland Stage Company is rehearsing and producing the spring show, WILL ROGERS FOLLIES: A Life in Revue. WILL ROGERS FOLLIES is a Follies-style tribute to the man whose daily newspaper column sent America readers on their way each morning with a smile on their face. The original New York production was directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune. The book was written by Peter Stone with music composed and arranged by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. The musical opened on Broadway, May 1, 1991 and played for 981 performances at the Palace Theatre winning six Tony Awards for Musical, Score, Director, Choreographer, Costume Designer and Lighting Designer.
The Loveland Stage Company’s WILL ROGERS FOLLIES: A Life in Revue is being directed by ACT Orchid winner Pat Furterer and produced by K Buckler also an ACT Orchid winner. Veteran cast and crew member, Kate Arnold is the Assistant to the Director. Music and Vocal Director Jack Hasty and Choreographer Marjory Clegg, also Orchid winners, will be bringing another award winner to the audio and visual interpretation of the musical lyrics and score as they did in the production of 42nd Street.
Producer K Buckler is working again with a production crew that have won individual and group community theater awards. Their western and show girl costumes and rural and movie sets enhanced with lighting and sound effects will surely be appreciated by the audience.
In the opening scenes of WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, Will entertains the audience with his rope tricks and his old-fashioned humor between the musical numbers for The Follies. The show girls dance to “Never Met a Man I Didn’t Like” and “Give a Man Enough Rope” which are parables set to music. The show unfolds Will’s extraordinary life. When Will turned nineteen, he set off, despite his father’s protests, to be a cowboy down in Argentina. It was at the train depot that Will first laid eyes on Betty Blake, the woman who would become his wife. Once married Will tours the country performing his routine until the day his big break arrives, and he is offered a part in Florenz Ziegfeld’s Follies. After six fabulous seasons, Will is called to Hollywood to perform on the silver screen.
After much success and a run for President in 1928, Will retires and spends more time at home. Shortly after retiring, however, Wiley Post, a long time friend, and Will lose their lives during a flying adventure in Alaska. The musical version of Will Rogers’s life is an upbeat celebration of a folk hero who made the world “a whole lot better place” than it was before he entered it.
Richard Lee Waldeck, who was seen last spring in his ACT Orchid Award winning role of Lazar Wolf in Fiddler on the Roof, plays Will Rogers. Tonya Oslack, who was last seen as Nellie in the fall production of Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, plays Betty, Will’s wife. Will’s father, Clem is played by ACT Orchid winner Dave Marcus; while Will’s longtime friend, Willie Post is played by stage veteran Norm Lewis.
Director Pat Furterer has cast other veterans in several more leading roles and experienced dancers and singers in the ensemble. They include Marvel Gentry Davis (Ensemble), Jonathan Eckman (Roper), Michelle Faulkner (Ensemble/Cowgirl), Carolyn Finn (Ensemble), Evalyn Fram (Ensemble/Anna), Gary Giver (Ensemble/Cowboy), Jill Gornet (Ensemble/Cowgirl), Trayden Harrington (Freddie Rogers), Yenny Ho (Ensemble/Waite), Marcel Mangan (Will Rogers, Jr), Susan McElroy Marcus (Ensemble/Virginia), John Masterson (Ensemble/Cowboy), Sherry Michalak (Ensemble/Theda), John Sloan (Florenz Ziegfeld), Isaac Mills (James Rogers), Jon Mills (Ensemble), Lori Reichling (Ensemble/Zulecki), Denise Schnieders (Ziegfeld’s Favorite), Jeanne Stephens (Ensemble), Bobby Jo Swearingen (Ensemble), Donna Treinan (Ensemble/Cora) and Oliva Walters (Mary Rogers).
WILL ROGERS FOLLIES: A Life in Revue has the perfect mix of memorable songs, humor and love that audiences enjoy. Don’t miss it. Tickets are available at $18.00 each for evening performances at 7:30 pm on March 4, 5, 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19 and matinee performances at 3:00 pm on March 6 and 13, 2016.
Tickets are available for purchase on this website. Call 513-443-4LSC (4572) to reserve tickets for groups or wheelchairs. All performances are held at the Loveland Stage Company Theatre, 111 Second Street, Loveland, Ohio 45140.
Michael Finn, Loveland Stage Company, mefinncanusa@aol.com
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